Beginning Soon: The Parent-Child Course!

Villa di Maria is thrilled to introduce a new 5-week course which will be available for parents and their young children, ages 8 weeks to 2 years, to connect, share, observe, and learn in a supportive, nurturing environment. Parents will learn, among other things, how to observe and respect their young child's natural development, when to intervene, the importance language plays in parenting very young children, and most of all, how to support a child in his or her self formation. It is also an introduction to Montessori and how to implement its principles within the home. More on the program, and how to sign up, below.Sessions will be led by Cab Yau, who has received her Assistants to Infancy certification, and also happens to be a compassionate, approachable, knowledgeable mother of three children here at Villa di Maria. Her goal is to welcome parents into an environment that is set up for their young child. The class provides both an opportunity to observe and interact with their child in a way that respects and celebrates their development, and how to support this development.Cab shares, "The child at this very young age is constructing herself.  She is learning, absorbing really, what it means to be a human being - how we move through space, how we communicate (both through language acquisition and the art of communicating), how we treat each other.  By providing an environment that is prepared specifically to support the child's development and more crucially by providing support and information for the parent we hope to support the child's self-construction, so that hers is a solid foundation upon which she can build."

"I want to help parents see how capable their child is and to give them some extra tools to use at home," Cab continues.

Registration starts soon, as the course will begin mid-October, but be sure to sign up soon as space is limited to 10 children and their accompanying caregivers. This course is not only available for parents of current VdM students, but also to the public; you do not have to be a Montessori family to join! Please contact Carrie Tallon, Director of Education (carriet@villadimaria.org) for more information.We hope to see you there!